


Hope

by Voruto_Son_of_Boruto



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I have so many WIPs going, this one is going to be only three chapters long though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-25 05:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voruto_Son_of_Boruto/pseuds/Voruto_Son_of_Boruto
Summary: Madara Uchiha, presumed dead by those who knew him, lives in a cave. He is being manipulated and coerced. His nightmares and dreams: will they become reality?





	1. Feathers

The whispers grated on his nerves when he first moved out of Konohagakure. While he rationalized that they were his own dark and disordered thoughts, sometimes he wondered if they were ghosts--of his brothers, of people he had killed, of his conscious. However, he at first, tried to ignore them. The inn he rented a distance from Konoha was comfortable and he could almost forget that he was on the run and was supposed to be dead. After a few months of these quiet, insistent whispers plus his own gonging regrets and thoughts, Madara Uchiha’s mind turned to the Uchiha Tablet that mentioned a world of dreams and peace. The whispers rewarded these thoughts--he remembered reading ( _ had he really read this? _ ) about a cave, about an hour from the grass border where he could find what he needed to create this dreamworld ( _ would Izuna be alive there? _ ). He decided to find this cave and left the comfort of his inn room to venture into the harsh  and hellish sunlight. In a reflective daze, he found the cave. The darkness and den-like nature of the cave was comforting, but the whispers seemed louder and while he tried to avoid listening to them too much, they seemed logical and were louder than his own thoughts, so it became more and more difficult to ignore.

 

One day, they told him to place a stone in the cave entrance--to block out the hellish world. He did. The world was harsh and the whispers gradually became a comfort. One day, the whispers became a shape: a dark shadow. The dark shadow said that it was the embodiment of Madara's will--a product of his grief. The shadow reminded him of Hashirama’s flesh that he had kept from that final battle and showed him how to graft it to himself in order to gain the abilities which would be used for this dreamworld. After the grafting, he gained the mokuton. Plus his eyes ( _ Izuna’s eyes _ ) started to hurt more. The shadow assured him that this was only a normal part of the process--he was gaining the abilities of the Sage of Six Paths.

 

Time passed. He learned what must be done to bring about this dreamworld and hot it  must be done. His shadow told him that he would have to find individuals willing to serve him--since he was only aging. 


	2. The Little Bird

While Madara had always been a sensory type, the Mokuton and the power in his eyes enhanced his sensory abilities. One day, he was meditating and his “will” ( _ It called itself kurozetsu _ : black despair) was out scouting opportunities and resources. As he focused on sensing the flowers and trees ( _ Did he do it to remember Hashirama? Or to punish himself with the unattainable? _ ) above his cave, he sensed another chakra signature which jolted him out of his deep meditative state. The chakra matched his younger brother ( _ Another Senju had murdered him _ ), Izuna Uchiha. He glanced around to ensure that  _ kurozetsu _ was not nearby ( _ “Going outside of the cave is dangerous and will hinder your healing. _ ”), then, utilizing his newfound mokuton, created a wood tunnel through the earth to where this foreign ( _ yet painfully familiar _ ) chakra signature was located. There was a child there. A very young child, perhaps only 5 or 6, sitting at the base of one of the great trees nearby. The child had blonde hair and purple eyes ( _ Izuna had black! Madara’s bitter subconscious reminded him _ .) and he stared up at the older man with big eyes. Madara stared back, unsure of what to do. ( _ The Sun was too Bright. He felt exposed. He also felt tricked and betrayed by his own sensory abilities. _ )

 

“...You’re not Izuna,” Madara glowered at this child and made to return to his cave.

 

“M’ name’s Asuka,” The child protested and stood up, carefully toddling over to Madara. He had a bit of a foreign twang to his accent that Madara could not place. “M’ papa and mama left me here b’cause I can do magic.”

 

Madara snorted, this child was amusing. His thoughts also darkened. Often civilian families would abandon children who showed chakra ability: since there was usually no one to train them. Also ninja villages were still a rare occurrence and not well known. “Well, Asuka,” Madara looked from side to side, this child’s chakra was so like Izuna’s. “If you walk in the direction of the sunrise, you will eventually find a village and there will be ninjas to take care of you.”

 

Asuka stared at him with his big purple eyes. “Why do you look so sad?” He then walked over to Madara and gave him a hug around his legs. Madara froze. He had not experienced physical contact in years. He also didn’t consider himself to be too sad: his dreams were coming to fruition after all. The child was speaking again: “Can I stay with you a bit? I’m tired and it’s getting dark.”

 

Madara glared down at the blonde mop of hair. This child was clearly from a poor civilian family and had not been taught proper manners. “Fine. But tomorrow bright and early, you are on your own.” He squashed the thought of Hashirama’s disproving glare if he were to find out that Madara abandoned a child in need. Then led the child back through the wood tunnel. He remembered that most humans needed a form of light and so he used a katon jutsu to light some torches in the large cavern. Of course, it was just as the child was settling in on the bed and as Madara was sitting back on his chair that kurozetsu returned. While Madara recognized Kurozetsu as his own deepest desires and will, he couldn’t help but be alarmed and disturbed by the emptiness and darkness that this being was made of.

 

Kurozetsu slithered into the cavern and glanced at Madara with his luminous yellow eyes. Then sensing another presence swiveled to look at the child (who was already asleep). “You left the cave.” It wasn’t a question. Merely a statement.

 

“His chakra felt like Izuna’s,” Madara didn’t know why he felt like he had to defend himself against his own will.

 

“Hmmm... It’s probably a trap set by your enemies. Shall I dispose of it?” Kurozetsu moved closer to where the child slept. Madara stared in shock before he was able to respond.

 

“Of course not! He’s helpless.  _ We don’t kill children _ .” Madara’s morals had not crumbled so far yet. While he was willing to do much to further his dreamworld, his moral compass would not allow for the slaughter of innocents. Kurozetsu looked back at him with an unreadable expression, then slithered from the room. Madara sighed and settled back down to keep his vigil over the sleeping child. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -  
> And sore must be the storm -  
> That could abash the little Bird  
> That kept so many warm -


	3. Taking Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve heard it in the chillest land -  
> And on the strangest Sea -  
> Yet - never - in Extremity,  
> It asked a crumb - of me.

The next morning, the Asuka woke up with a start, and looked around wildly, “Mama? Papa?” Then, remembering that he had been abandoned slouched further into the nest created by the blankets. Madara, who had not slept at all that night, shifted a bit and the child's head snapped up. Madara tried to look less threatening. However, upon hearing the child's stomach growl, he realized that normal humans needed to eat. There was no food in the cave. The closest village was miles away. Could he really just let the child wander off by himself towards Konohagakure? He didn’t trust his dark will Zetsu to escort Asuka… These musings were cut off when the child spoke again.

 

“Why do you live in a cave?” Asuka asked, eyeing the dark walls. Madara thought for a moment. Why  _ did _ he live in the cave? He vaguely remembered that the Sun was too bright, that people were untrustworthy...but how to explain that to a five year old?

 

“My friends abandoned me, just like your parents abandoned you,” He decided to answer shortly.

 

“Why not make new friends? --Or  _ we _ could be friends!!” Asuka jumped up excitedly. “Let’s go to that ninja village you were mumbling about last night and make some new friends!” Madara looked over at his will--Kurozetsu-- who was shaking his head at him:  _ No _ .

 

Madara looked back at Asuka, so bright and cheerful, so much like Izuna had been as a youngster. He sighed. It couldn’t hurt to take him back to the Konohagakure and leave him outside the town border, then return back here before anyone noticed his definitely not dead-ness. He stood up, flashed his will a glare and reached out his hand towards the child. “OK,” he said, “I’ll at least guide you there, but I really shouldn’t return their myself.”

 

While Asuka looked puzzled, he nodded and grasped Madara’s hand tightly. Madara created another tunnel and shooting Kurozetsu a dirty look stepped up into the light. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I purposefully left this open-ended. Does he take the child back to the Leaf Village? Does he also end up staying in the Leaf Village? Does he return to the cave? Comment and let me know what you think! :)

**Author's Note:**

> “Hope” is the thing with feathers -  
> That perches in the soul -  
> And sings the tune without the words -  
> And never stops - at all -
> 
> (Emily Dickinson, "Hope," First Stanza)


End file.
